


IronHawk Short Stories

by kittybarton



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fanfiction, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Marvel 616 References, Short One Shot, Some Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 05:04:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17822423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittybarton/pseuds/kittybarton
Summary: Just a series of short stories for TonyxClint, their based off the 616 universe but all the events are taken off the MCU. These are all imported from my Wattpad :)





	1. You've Got To Start Dating Again

**Author's Note:**

> hnng I've never posted on this platform before, so bear with me whilst I work out all the kinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this first one is not as Tony and Clint centric but i just wanted to upload something as a first.

Third Person’s POV

“You got to start dating again.” His friend smiled sadly at him as the two sat across one another at a café. He just smiled back at her as he took a sip of his iced coffee to try and avoid the conversation. “Clint, it’s been five years.”

  
“I’m trying.” He replied as he played with his straw. He knows she means well but he could never quite adjust to this topic of conversation.

  
“I know, and I won’t force you but you’re still so young, you have time.” She sympathized as she studied her friend with anxious eyes. He briefly glanced up and pursed his lips as he smiled at her with a slight nod of the head.

  
“I just…” He muttered then paused as he suddenly felt the lump In his throat. He forced a smile and shook his head. Her eyebrows knitted together as she saw her friend in distress. “S-Sorry.”

  
“No, I should be apologizing. I shouldn’t have brought this topic up.” Natasha Romanoff frowned and leaned forward to gain some distance between her friend.

  
“It’s fine, you’re only looking out for me.” He whispered as he finished the rest of his drink.

  
“You and Tony have been getting pretty close.” She decided to change the topic to something he’s more comfortable with. He just chuckled softly and made eye contact with her once again.

“Define close, he’s just been annoying the hell out of me.”

  
“I mean, you’re always smiling when you’re around him.”

  
He blinked as he thought about that statement. She had a point, he was always smiling around Tony Stark. The brunette always made him feel eat ease and always made him laugh. “He’s pretty easy to talk to.”

  
“He doesn’t know does he?” She asked as she tilted her head to one side. He just shook his head once again.

  
“I don’t think anybody knows. I mean what the hell am I supposed to say?” He scoffed, “Hey I used to have a boyfriend but he died five years ago and I can’t get over him.” He almost laughed at how pathetic he sounded. He thought back briefly on his past partner, only to have an air of melancholy surround him.

  
_“Hey, hey c’mon stay with me.” Barton whispered as he intertwined his fingers with his partner’s. “I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m so sorry.” He didn’t know it was possible for a human being to lose so much blood. “Please just stay with me.” He begged as tears stung his eyes._

  
_“This wasn’t your fault…” His partner murmured, his eyes half open. Blood coated the man’s teeth and slid down the sides of his mouth. He wanted to scream, scream for anybody to come save his lover but he knew nobody would come. “What about our wedding? That’s a lot of money gone…”_

  
_“Hey, we both have no friends therefore small wedding.” He smiled sadly and watched as the other man forced a weak smile. He could feel the other man’s grip slowly slip away._

  
_“I forgot to say…Happy Birthday.” His partner’s voice was barely audible._

  
_“Just save your strength.” He screwed his eyes shut and held the other man’s hand tighter. A couple moments passed before he opened his eyes once again. His eyes fluttered as he realized his partner stopped responding. “Quinn?”_

  
“Hey!” A voice snapped him back to reality. He snapped up with wide eyes and saw Natasha let out a deep sigh. “We should probably head back, you don’t look so good.” He nodded as he realized it was probably for the best.

  
_He opened the door to his apartment. His hand reached out for the light switch in the darkness and flicked it on. He glanced around briefly before he stepped inside and shrugged off his jacket which he threw over the couch. He walked towards the box set atop his coffee table, it had a tag and a small bow at the top of it._  
_He bit his lip as he forced himself not to cry. It had been three weeks since he had stepped into his apartment. He couldn’t bear the thought that his partner wasn’t going to be sharing it with him anymore. His fingers hesitantly reached out for the box and opened the lid._

  
_It was an electric guitar. His eyes fluttered at the sight of it and his hand rested atop the strings. Inside there was a card, he picked It up and read it._

  
_‘You said you got bored of your acoustic one, so here’s something new. Happy Birthday, I love you!’ – Quinn._

  
“Barton! You good?” Tony Stark shouted, the blonde blinked and shook his head slightly as he glanced at his friend. The brunette had his eyebrow raised and a soft smile on his face, “You sort of zoned out there.”

  
“S-Sorry, I’ve been pretty tired.” He lied but his friend seemed to have bought it for now. “W-What were you saying?”

  
“I was saying Happy Birthday dipshit.” Stark snickered as he walked towards his workbench. “I got you something since I’m such a nice friend.” The brunette dragged out a rather large box and he wondered what was inside.

  
“I thought I told you not to get me anything.” He smiled a little as Stark pushed it towards him.

  
“That’s what you told everybody else but everyone still got you something.” His friend smirked and watched as Clint continued to stare at the box. “Are you going to open it?” The blonde nodded and carefully opened the box.

His heart jumped at the sight of the present, it was a guitar. “W-Where?"

  
“I never picked you out to be the type to play instruments, but I saw your electric guitar once and thought this would be nice.” Tony smiled fondly as the blonde carefully took out the acoustic guitar.

  
He strummed the strings watched and the sound echoed in the room. It sounded beautiful and he knew it must have costed quiet the sum of money. “I-I don’t know how to thank you.”

  
“Hey if you continue playing the piano once a week, that’s more than enough of a thank you.” The brunette said. Barton slowly set the guitar back down in its case and suddenly felt a tightness around his throat.

  
He couldn’t understand why he was getting chocked up, he just forced a smile and took deep breaths. Stark frowned as he noticed something was wrong.  
“Hey, are you alright?” Tony’s voice was comforting, it was soft and warm at the same time.

  
“It’s just…” Out of everyone he knew, he never figured Stark to parallel his old partner. “You can’t possibly understand how special something like this is.”

  
“Your electric guitar.” Tony started as he took a step closer towards his friend. “It was from somebody important wasn’t it?” Clint blinked in disbelief, surprised that the brunette took notice. “It has an engraving on it, not to mention you carry it around so carefully.”

  
“I-It was from my-“ His breath hitched, he hated himself for being like this. Tony pushed him down towards the sofa as the blonde seemed light headed. “It was from my fiancé.”

  
“Fiancé? And was?” Stark whispered as he sat down beside him. Clint just forced a breathless laugh and ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t have to tell me.” This news was all new to Tony.

  
“He died five years ago, on this exact day actually.” He explained as his eyes continued to loom over the new guitar he received. Stark could feel his heart drop at the sentence and bit his lip anxiously. “The world must really hate me huh? To have my fiancé die on my birthday.” Tony didn’t know what he could possibly say to help his friend. “After that day, I stopped celebrating my birthday.”

“Is that why you asked all of us not to get you anything?”

  
Barton nodded, the brunette gradually felt worse. “It was all my fault, he got involved in my fucked up job and I couldn’t do anything to save him.”

  
“I’m sure you did everything you could.” Stark tried to reassure and silence fell before them. “He must have been a pretty cool dude to have bought you an electric guitar.”

  
Clint smiled a little which made the brunette feel better. “I met him on a mission. I was injured, bleeding out in an alleyway and he approaches me. He patches me up without question, he didn’t ask why I was casually dying and doesn’t ask how I got there in the first place.” Tony smiled sympathetically at the story. “He didn’t figure out what I did for a living until around a year we started dating.”

  
“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s alright, it’s been a while and it’s probably stupid for me to still loom over it.” He said, Stark frowned at him.

  
“Stupid? Clint he was your fiancé. If this happened to me I know I would never get over it.” The brunette reasoned, Barton glanced at him and nodded slightly. Before either of them could speak further, a phone call echoed within the room.

  
The blonde’s hand reached for his pocket and pulled out his device. He answered it and responded with one word answers.

  
“It’s work, I have to go.” He informed as he stood on his feet, his eyes glanced over at the guitar once again. “I’ll pick this up when I get back…thank you again.”

  
“Anytime.” Stark said and watched as the younger man quickly left the room. “J, do we know anything about Barton’s partner?”

  
“I can try my best sir.” The AI responded and searched for what it could. The search came back moments later and was displayed on large holograms. Tony scanned through them and paused when he saw a photo of the man.

  
He was beautiful to say the least. The man was of mixed cultures, most probably half Asian and half American. Dark brown hair rested just above his eyebrows and his smile seemed to light up the world.

  
The man was a medicine student for a short while before he quit to pursue his hobby in art.

  
Tony let out a deep breath as he closed the holograms and glanced over at his present. Clint didn’t deserve to suffer like that, nobody should have to suffer like that.

  
When Clint arrived home later that night, the guitar was already in his room sitting atop a stand. He was exhausted but his hand reached out for the instrument anyway. He sat down on a nearby couch and played it. As he played his mind wandered off to the thought of Tony.

  
He knew…he knew he couldn’t lose this one.


	2. Recall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update!! I hope to actually write an actual book here soon but for now this is all the content I have with me.

Third Person's POV

He expected the previously denounced Avengers to return, he just never expected it to be so soon. He didn't bother greeting them and even if he wanted to, he wondered if he should. They were the same team that broke his trust, all led by the same man that nearly killed him and left him in Siberia. The very thought of his old 'team' sent his close to a mental breakdown; for years he tried long and hard to forget them, but now they were back as if nothing ever happened.

He wondered if they even cared about how much they hurt him, how every time he thought about them, he ended up in tears.

However he knew there was no point in avoiding them, the least he could do was interact with them at least once. He decided to join their debriefing the very next day and listened to whatever they had to say.

"Somebody want to explain to me why we're allowed back?" Steve Rogers spoke as the man settled himself down on the couch across him. The soldier almost seemed as if he hadn't changed, the voice of a leader still rooted deep within him. Every now and then he felt Steve's remorseful eyes flicker towards him and back towards the centre of the room.

"The accords got recalled." James Rhodes explained as he leaned against a nearby wall. "As it turns out, more civilian deaths occurred without us."

Steve frowned as he digested the information, "What happened? I thought the accords were meant to prevent that."

For a moment he expected the soldier to crack a smile, and state how everybody should have listened to him. He expected Rogers to criticize in a way that always meant, 'you meant well but I'm right' but it never came. Instead Steve seemed almost seemed regretful of his actions and he wondered if the man had indeed changed.

"With most of the events that happened, it was deemed too drastic for the Avengers to step in." Rhodes continued to explain, and his eyes quickly glanced over his old friend. "You can imagine how pissed people got and they eventually started rioting."

"Jesus." Steve whispered and scrubbed his face. His eyes fluttered at the sight of his old friend, the soldier looked exhausted. The dark rings under his eyes almost seemed like bruises at this rate and he had certainly got skinnier. "I'm sorry for everything I've done."

He never saw an apology coming from a long way. He felt his heartbeat rise at the man's sincerity.

"Steve-" James was cut off.

"No, I hurt this team. I broke us apart and all for what?" The man muttered, "I didn't have a clear head going in. I should have tried harder to come up with a solution that helped all of us. You trusted me to lead the Avengers...but I ended up doing the exact opposite."

The room fell silent at the man's apology, even he was unsure of how to respond.

Eventually the room scattered, and everybody got along with the rest of the day. The conversation could have ended better, but it was definitely a start. As he was about to leave the room, somebody caught his eye.

His throat tightened as he saw who it was; Clint Barton stood by the doorway with an apple and a knife in his hands. He wondered how he hadn't noticed the man earlier, or even wondered where he was.

If the sight of the blonde was enough to make him feel like throwing up, he knew better than to stay any longer. He quickly exited the room and scurried back towards his bedroom to avoid risking a breakdown in a public setting.

As the door shut behind him, he sunk back against the wall and brought his knees to his chest. He took a second to control his breathing, in and out. It took a good couple of minutes, but he eventually eased up and managed to breathe normally once again.

His head was pressed against the door behind him as he thought back on the all too familiar blonde. He remembered the way it ended between them both and it sent a violent shudder down his body.

He couldn't do this to himself, not again. He pushed past the thoughts and stood on his feet to approach his bed. He just needed to sleep, it had been a mentally draining day and he knew he needed the rest.

"Oh poor little Tony." Clint mocked, "Without the Avengers you have nothing, nobody that could ever love or cherish you."

"S-Stop it." He begged and blocked his ears as if that would help. Forceful hands pulled one of his hands away and he whimpered.

"How stupid of you to think that I could ever love somebody like you." The man whispered right in his ear. "You mean nothing to me, and that's why signing the accords was so easy." He couldn't take another second of this but Clint only pulled him forward and forcefully kissed him. He wanted to scream and beg for the other to stop but it was almost as if he was rendered mute. "I love you."

He woke up screaming, his hand ran through his sweat soaked hair and oxygen seemed sparse. This time he couldn't control his breathing, he panicked as his throat felt like it was closed off. His fingers clenched against his hair as he let out a choked whimper.

"Sir? Are you alright? Shall I call for help?" JARVIS chimed in a soft voice to avoid shocking him even more.

"N-No, I'm okay." He gritted out and screwed his eyes shut. He just needed to breathe, that's all he needed to do. "C'mon Tony." He whispered to himself as tears stung his eyes.

He could hear his heart pound in his ears and before much else could be done, he bolted towards the bathroom. He threw up and felt the tears run down his eyes as his stomach churned. As bile exited his body he realised how much he had been avoiding food. He found any reason to skip breakfast, lunch and dinner; only eating the bare minimum.

He knew it wasn't healthy but no matter how much he forced himself, he couldn't bring himself to eat properly.

He sat on the ground for a little while longer before he stood up to flush the toilet. He then moved to brush his teeth and took a proper look of himself in the mirror. He looked like shit, even he could admit that. Ever since he heard the Avengers were coming back, his health went completely out the window.

"Sir, if I may, perhaps you should eat something." JARVIS advised, and he just hummed dismissively. "There is pizza downstairs, maybe something greasy could help."

He narrowed his eyes at the advice and realised his AI was right. A little bit of food was probably necessary anyway. He crept downstairs and watched as the lighting dimmed on automatically as he made his way towards the kitchen.

The pizza boxes were left on the kitchen benchtop and he took one slice before he marched back towards his room. On the way back, he noticed that somebody was asleep on the couch. His eyebrows knitted as he leaned over to see who it was.

His eyes widened as he realised it was Clint. Across the man were scattered files along with a laptop atop of the coffee table. It was evident that the man was working before he fell asleep. He decided to shake it off and left the blonde be as he retreated to his bedroom.

Over the next couple of days, he occasionally passed by the blonde. As he did, he would get an unexplainable stomach ache and above all Clint acted as if he didn't exist. He knew that Clint could see him though, after all he was Hawkeye and he never missed a fucking thing. He could tell your worse habit just by looking at you because he was fucking amazing at what he did.

Tony had always hated that trait about him, the blonde could likely see how broken he was from a mile away.

"You feeling alright?" James asked as he sat down beside him. He just hummed and took another sip from his whiskey. His friend let out an audible sigh, his eyes flickering between the drink and him. "There's no point lying to me."

"I just haven't been sleeping while." He forced on a smile and made eye contact with the other. James raised an eyebrow, truly worried for the health of his friend.

"It's him, isn't it?"

He turned his attention back towards his drink, "I should have listened to you when you told me he'd just hurt me."

James frowned and exhaled through his nose, "Look, I said that to you in the early stages of your relationship. Over time I realised he was a good man."

He forced a laugh and took another sip of his drink. "He hid my parent's death from me; then of course Steve knew as well. Then he chose to sign the accords without ever giving me a proper reason why."

"I don't think he had a choice."

"He had a fucking choice!" He shouted suddenly and slammed his hand on the counter. The glass rattled and James flinched a little. "Sorry." He whispered and buried his face, "I-I didn't mean to shout, I'm just tired."

"Clint loved you, no matter the circumstances he wouldn't have intended to hurt you."

He recalled the dream he had a couple of nights ago and quickly downed his drink before he broke down once again. Clint loving him seemed almost outlandish at this point.

"You know what my nightmares are? The reason why I can't fucking sleep?" His friend waited for an answer, "It's either him killing me or him blatantly saying that he never loved me."

Rhodes breathed out and thought about his next words, "Have you thought about moving out?"

"I doubt that'll make a difference, I-It would be easier if I stayed anyway."

"If it ever gets too much-"

"I know." He smiled, a little more genuine this time. "Thanks for having my back."

Later that night he dwindled towards the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. On the way his mind drifted to Clint once again and their first date, recalling how happy they were.

"Really? A movie? How much more basic could you get?" He teased as he held the other's hand.

"Hey! You agreed to go on a movie date with me." The blonde grinned as they approached the popcorn stand.

"Well I did say you could choose whatever you want."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll enjoy tonight."

He realised that Clint used to be so happy, there wasn't a day where there wasn't a smile on his face. However, years into their relationship, he noticed how the smiles became less frequent and how much the blonde changed. For a moment, he wondered if the reason Clint changed was because of him. He asked himself if he robbed the man of his happiness and couldn't help but feel the guilt that crept through him.

Then the mug shattered, he jumped as he was brought back to reality. He cursed and bet down to pick up the sharp shards. His hands shook as he held onto the ceramic and felt it cut into the palms of his hands. Blood ran down his hands and he almost screamed, was he really so useless that he couldn't even pick up a broken mug?

Another moment passed before he saw another hand pick up the remaining pieces, his eyes fluttered as he glanced up and met with icy blue eyes. Then they pulled out the medical kit from the cabinet and waited for him to show his hands.

Clint? What are you doing?

His thoughts screamed at him but nevertheless he showed the other man his injuries. Clint had a look on his face that showed he was unsure of how deep the cuts were. Nevertheless, the blonde took out antiseptic and cotton balls. As the treatment was dabbed onto his skin he couldn't help but wince. The pain was agonizing but he was surprised at how gentle Clint's hands were, he never remembered them to be that soft.

Soon the bandages were wrapped and Clint packed away the equipment. As the man was about to leave, he called out for him.

"Clint, wait." He whispered, his eyes still drawn to the bandages on his hands. "C-Can we talk?"

The blonde crouched down in front of him once again and waited for a conversation to begin. He found the courage to meet the man's gaze and was drawn in by the familiar blue hues.

"Say something damn it." He pressed, his throat felt tight once again. Could he really do this?

"We can talk." The answer came, god he hadn't heard that voice in a long while.

"I just-" He choked on his own words, he couldn't do this. Tears jabbed his eyes and he hated himself for being so vulnerable. "Why? Why did you abandon me?"

Clint frowned and opened his mouth to speak but it took a moment for words to actually come out, "I had no choice."

"You did!" He raised his voice and watched as the blonde flinched at the sudden uproar. "Did you do it for Steve?"

"I-"

"Even if you did, why did you never tell me about my parents?" Tears ran down his face but he couldn't give a single fuck anymore. "Please, I need some sort of closure, anything!"

"I didn't run away from the accords for Steve." Clint started, and he waited for the bullshit excuse. "I ran away for myself and I know that sounds selfish but that's because it was. Before this whole thing happened...I tried to find out what happened to SHIELD and I couldn't have done that whilst I was under surveillance." There was a short pause, "As for not telling you about your parents, I-It was because I loved you."

He hit the blonde across the face, the man stumbled back and bit his lip. "Loved me?! If you loved me you would have told me!"

Clint froze on the spot as he raised his hand again. Before he hit the younger man once again he saw fear flash across Clint's eyes. His eyes fluttered as he realised what he was doing, he lowered his hand before his anger could consume him. He realised he was becoming his father and that bothered him off above anything else.

"I just wanted to protect you." The blonde whispered, "And if you can't understand that, I don't ever expect you to."

He took a deep breath to try and calm himself down, "You're right, I don't understand that and I never will."

WEEKS LATER

"It sounds to me as if you still love him."

He blinked and scoffed at the statement, "Did you not hear anything I just said?"

"I heard you loud and clear Tony and I know you still love him."

"Bruce I know you said you weren't this kind of doctor but-"

"Listen to me for one second." Bruce Banner huffed as he sat across his friend, therapist-patient style. "You could have moved out but you didn't, you could have avoided talking to him but you didn't and not to mention to still have dreams about him."

"I have nightmares of him killing me!"

"And that's what you're scared of isn't it?" Bruce asked, and the question struck him like thunder. "You're scared that he doesn't love you back and therefore that gives him a reason to hurt you."

"I-"

"But the slightest bit of evidence that shows that maybe he feels otherwise; you want to reject it all completely because you feel like you don't deserve it. You hit him to push him away from you when all you want is the opposite." Bruce hit him in spots he didn't even think he had and he couldn't help but swallow nervously.

He was completely lost for words.

"I-I shouldn't have hit him." He whispered, "What the fuck was I thinking? He looked so scared which was abnormal even for him because he's an assassin."

"Did he have a similar reaction when you argued over the accords."

He thought back on it a little, "Now that you mention it, he stayed silent most of the time and just accepted my shouting."

"Do you think he's scared of you?"

"Me?" He mumbled, "W-Why would he-"

"He lived in an abusive household didn't he? Perhaps repressed trauma causes him to react this way."

"But I've seen him argue with people-"

"He didn't love them Tony, he loved you." Bruce cut him off once again and he let out another sigh. His head hit the back of the sofa as he thought over all the information given to him. "I'm sure at one point he loved his father as any child would and he assumed it to be normal for family to treat him as such."

"God." He whispered and buried his face in his hands, "Fuck! What did I do?"

"You couldn't have known."

"I should have stopped myself. I just acted like my fucking Dad when I promised myself I'd be nothing like him."

Bruce smiled sadly, "You can only move forward from here." A beat passed, "However I do agree that his decision regarding the accords and your parents did hurt you. In fact, I'm sure it traumatized you, hence why you feel uneasy around him. He was somebody you trusted, and he destroyed that in pretty much one day."

"What the fuck do I do?"

"Well, you're both in the wrong here, even you can't deny that." His friend said, "For one thing, you should probably apologise for hitting him."

"Trust me, that was already on the list." He muttered and rubbed his temples, "T-Thanks for this."

"No problem, just pay me next time." Bruce smirked and he couldn't help but smile, he appreciated the joke.

Later that day he rushed to find Clint around the Avengers facility. He found the blonde working in the common space and was quick to interrupt him. Initially Clint seemed shock by the sudden disturbance but waited for him to say something.

"I'm sorry." He said, "I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you and I'm sorry for hitting you, I was out of line."

"You've done nothing wrong to me." Clint replied, and he shook his head.

"No, I can't just let you take the blame forever. I realise that now." He grounded, "Although what you did is almost unforgivable, I know I've hurt you in the past."

The blonde furrowed his eyebrows, "You don't have to apologise."

"It's okay to hate me you know?" He forced a smile at the younger man, "You took all my shouting, all my frustrations because you loved me but that's not right. You shouldn't, no matter how much you love somebody, that shouldn't stop you from defending yourself."

Clint seemed genuinely surprised at this conversation, "I-"

"The way I handled my anger around you...I was no better than my Dad and I see that now. I didn't deserve your kindness or patience."

"I didn't say anything because I was scared you'd hurt me or leave me." Clint finally responded, and his heart jumped. "That was also why I never said anything about your parents, I just didn't want you to be upset." The man licked his lips, "But I know I hurt you even more by not saying anything and I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to come close to having a panic attack just by being in the same room with me."

"Guess we both fucked up huh?" He scoffed pathetically and shook his head. "I-I just want us to be okay."

"We will be." Clint smiled reassuringly, "And by then we'll be different people."


	3. You're So Adorable It Hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yeet, i hope you all are liking these so far

Third Person's POV

The thing about Clint Barton was, nobody ever really talked about how beautiful he was. All the talk had always been about how the man was an assassin; so you could imagine how bored he got after the first hundred times its been mentioned. It wasn't as if an assassin didn't intimidate him, but he understood that people had to make a living somehow.

And if that living was killing other human beings, especially shitty human beings, then so be it.

To be frankly honest, the first time he saw the man, he was almost swept off his feet. They had informed him that Clint had finally snapped out of Loki's control and would be joining the team on the field. He didn't think too much of it, simply relieved that they would have extra help against an alien invasion.

Then he saw the man and Oh God.

Clint looked as if he emerged from Tony's teenage wet dream. Silver blonde hair that had to have dyed, the clearest fucking blue eyes he had ever seen, all along with a sculpted body that was clearly defined by his uniform. He was surprised he didn't fly straight into a wall with how intently he stared at the man.

"Stark can you get me up there?" His voice wasn't exactly what Tony was expecting either. It was so soft, like a child soft. It honestly made him just want to hug the blonde and tell him everything was going to be okay.

He was glad he had his helmet on, because boy even he could tell he was blushing like hell.

"Y-Yeah, better clench up Legolas." He responded in the most un-smoothest way possible. He really hoped Clint didn't think he was weird because he isn't.

He had hoped that maybe throughout their fight in New York, he'd find some trait that would make him disinterested towards the blonde. Anything to spare him from having this childish crush.

However as time passed, he found himself more attracted to the man than ever before because Clint was frighteningly smart. The man's callouts were scary accurate; and his ability to formulate a plan on the spot, catering to each fucking team member was mind numbing to Tony. Hell, even his fucking suit wouldn't be able to coordinate plans that well.

"How do you do that?" He found himself asking amidst the battle.

"Do what?"

"Know exactly what the enemy is going to do like a psychic."

That earnt a chuckle from the blonde and his heart felt as if it was about to lurch out of his chest. 

"I don't really know, it's just always been something I could do." Clint responded with a timid tone. "Maybe I'm a Jedi."

He scoffed and couldn't help but smile like an idiot.

"If you two are done flirting I could use some help." Natasha's voice cut through the coms.

He decided to rush in and help her; after all, he could always talk to Clint after the fight.

The weeks after New York, the team were at talk conferences and interviews back to back. During those days Clint was quiet, the blonde barely spoke at any of the events. He wondered if that was because Clint was as sheepish as he came off. You would think than an assassin would have more presence but nope, he was as meek as a mouse.

"You know you can speak right?" Tony teased one day as they wrapped up an interview.

"I'm not exactly a people person." Clint mumbled as he ran his hand through his hair in an attempt to neaten it.

"But you're talking to me."

"I thought you liked the sound of my voice?" The blonde joked with a smile and once again his heart drummed in his ears. He really was head over heels for Clint but who could blame him? The man was so fucking adorable it hurt. "I think I might head home first, I'm pretty tired."

"I can call a car for you."

Clint shook his head, "I'll be alright, but thanks anyway."

He let out a deep breath as he saw the man walk away. At this rate, he was never going to ask the man out.

SOME TIME LATER

The problem when somebody was cute was, you could never anticipate how dangerous they could be. Sure, even a child could have made the connection that an assassin and danger go hand in hand but he was still surprised.

The same introverted Clint Barton that would have been too worried to raise his voice in an argument was also the same man that could take down a group of mercenaries without breaking a sweat. The man that was so careful not to upset anyone was also the same man that knew seven different languages fluently and could make basic conversation with another five.

Clint had both the tools and the skills to take down an entire nation but here he was, nibbling on a sandwich as he watched over a training session for SHIELD agents. Tony on the other hand was here, well, because he was bored.

"Alright how about a challenge?" The supervisor of the exercise called out, "If the seven of you can beat Agent Barton in a fight, you don't have training tomorrow."

The SHIELD agents glanced around at one another and shared small snickers here and there. Little did they know the hell that they were about to endure.

"Can you hold this for me?" Clint whispered as he handed over the half eaten toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Tony just nodded and took it off the man's hands, he couldn't wait to see the blonde in action.

Clint was playing around with a combat knife like a child as he was circled. He often came to notice that Clint had always made himself look weak towards the enemy, and hell, it always works in his favour.

The first initial attacks by the agents were sloppy, the kind of attacks that meant they thought this would be a quick win.

Then it happened, Clint slammed a kick that immediately fractured somebody's ribs. They cried out with pain and stumbled backwards. The rest of them shared another look, an anxious look this time.

"I hope you guys don't think this is some sort of game." Clint smirked in a way that he had never seen before, the kind of smile that meant the man knew he was going to win. It sent a chill down Tony's spine and right to his boner. The knife that Clint was holding was brought up to their line of sight. "If none of you are careful, trust me when I say that a slit throat is more painful than a broken rib."

Then the fight really began; the agents tried their best, they really did but they couldn't even land a scratch on the blonde. In a matter of minutes all seven were down on the ground, unable to fight anymore.

"Thank you." Clint mumbled softly as he took back the sandwich that Tony was holding. He blinked at the sudden shift in personality, not even a minute ago the blonde was ready to murder somebody. "I know this really nice desert store; do you want to go?"

He was lost for words; how could he even respond after what he saw?

"You are terrifying." He whispered and watched as the man tilted his head to one side like a puppy. "Don't play cute like that."

"Aw, but I'm good at it." They smiled sweetly, and he shook his head with disbelief. He would never get used to Clint's duality. "So what do you say? Want some ice cream?"

"You know what, sure." He gave in, "But you're paying."

"I wouldn't see it any other way."

A COUPLE MONTHS LATER

You see, sometimes the kindest people are the ones that are suffering the most. He learnt this the hard way when he found Clint crying his eyes out in common space one night. The blonde sobbed to the point where he couldn't breathe. The sight was enough to make Tony's stomach churn.

"Hey." He whispered at one point and the man snapped his eyes up as his breath continued to hitch. "It can't be healthy for you to cry like this."

Clint panted softly as tears streamed down his face, "I-I...W-what are you doing here?"

"I was just grabbing a glass of water but then I heard somebody crying." He approached the blonde slowly to show that he meant no harm. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong? It's okay if you don't." He rubbed Clint's back in an attempt to soothe him.

"Am I bad a person?" They whispered as their body continued to shake. Tony frowned and wondered what Clint was talking about. "W-When I was under Loki's control...I-I enjoyed that."

His eyes fluttered as the words left the man's mouth. He had no idea that Clint still thought about Loki.

"What do you mean?"

"Killing without any remorse, God, I can't ever explain to you how blissful that was." The blonde forced out a laugh but his body shuddered once again. "People tell me that I'm just a heartless assassin, I'm beginning to think they're right." Clint's breath hitched once more.

Tony narrowed his eyes, "I can't understand what's possibly going through your head and I don't think I ever will but you're not a monster Clint." The blonde glanced up, "You're a good person who just had something fucked up happen to you."

"How would you know that?"

He smiled sympathetically, "You've been my friend for close to a year now, I know you're not a monster. Your so kind its concerning, fucking adorable and I wouldn't trade you for anything."

Clint managed a slight smile, "You really know how to make a guy's heart melt huh?"

He continued to smile and wiped away the tears from the man's face. "I'm a playboy, kind of my speciality to make anybody's heart melt."

Then the blonde started to cry once again. His eyebrows knitted as he watched the tears fall to the ground. He then pulled Clint into a hug and pressed the blonde's head against his neck.

"I-I didn't mean to kill anybody." They chocked out, "I didn't mean to enjoy it either." Clint gripped against Tony's shirt. "I'm so sorry."

He swallowed as he held the man tighter, god, why did he feel like crying too?

"Please, don't hate me." The blonde whimpered, "I didn't mean to."

He wasn't sure how long they sat there for, but it was long enough for Clint to fall asleep in his arms. With the amount of crying he just did, he'd be surprised if the man wasn't exhausted.

"No one hates you to Clint." He whispered as he carefully picked the other man up. "And nobody thinks you're a bad person either." He slowly laid the blonde on the sofa and draped a nearby blanket over the man. "Rest well alright? I'll be here if you need me."


End file.
